He Found Her in the Rose Garden
by My-Crazy-Awesome-Sox
Summary: A first meeting, a promise to return, the aftermath of an almost death, a promise for the future...four moments spanning two lifetimes of two souls always meant to be one


**A/N:** Hey y'all! Sailor Moon holds a special place in my heart, seeing as how I've been pretty much obsessed with it since I was three (litterally, no exaggeration there). I rather think this is a nice little introduction piece for me. I'm hoping y'all from this fandom will be seeing a lot more of me. :) Enjoy the fluff! 8/20: just fixed a few mistakes, nothing major

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He found her in the rose garden.

He was frustrated. Yet another meeting where his parents tried to convince him that this union with Lady Beryl was best for everyone. Well it wasn't best for _him_, damn it! He could barely stand spending an hour with the woman, let alone the rest of his life. It wasn't so unusual, he knew, for marriages to be out of business instead of personal feelings. It was the standard really, but it wasn't what he wanted for himself. His parents had a love-match, why couldn't he expect the same? Endymion sighed and raked a hand through his midnight hair as he strode through the only place he could really think, agitation thick in his powerful gate.

The sight of her stopped him in his tracks and all else melted away.

Hair so blond it was nearly white, skin like alabaster, eyes crystal blue. She knelt in front of a proud red rose bush—oddly enough with a few of its blooms closed as if night had fallen—one dainty hand clasped in her other. She looked as though she was trying very hard not to cry. Endymion was vaguely surprised that it seemed to be the rose bush that had her upset and not the fact that her dress may be getting dirty. Slowly, as not to startle her, he came towards her and knelt at her side.

"What ails you, Lady?" he asked gently, as if speaking too loudly would shatter the spell of her beauty. She turned to him, eyes bright with tears she could barely hold back, and stunned him with her answer.

"The flowers here hate me!" she cried in despair.

It was all he could do not to chuckle. "How could a flower hate one with beauty equal to its own?"

She sniffed. "They close up when I try to touch them, as if hiding from me." She demonstrated, holding out a slender finger near an open rose. Sure enough, before the digit even touched a single petal, the flower closed delicately. "And when I try to get it to open again," she continued with another sniff, "it pricks me…" she held out the hand she had been favoring, a small cut still oozed red.

Endymion took the hand in his own, marveling at its smoothness and at the hum of energy he detected from it. "The flowers do not hate you, Lady, they simply do not know you."

The angel wiped the tears from her eyes, looking at him with complete trust. "Realy?"

He smiled. "Yes. You have a power they don't recognize, and so they shy away from your touch. But in time," he held out his own, tanned hand over a closed bud and let his golden power coax it back to full bloom, "they may learn to love you as much as you seem to love them."

"Oh, I do! I think they are the most beautiful things I've ever seen." She affirmed, a touch of awe in her voice.

"As for their affront to your person," he turned his attention back to her cut palm and impulsively bent his head to kiss away the remaining blood, silently pleased with her small gasp, "I doubt you would like it much either if someone tried to force you to do something you did not wish to?"

"Y-Yes, I suppose that is so." She stammered as their eyes held, dark blue to light. He stood, leading her to do the same by the hand he still held, and was struck at her small stature, easily a foot shorter than he. And yet she had a presence that would surely push aside all others.

"May I ask your name?" he inquired hopefully.

"Serenity."

"Is it your first time at court, Serenity?" It would explain why it seemed she had never seen roses before, and why he had never seen her…

"I…You could say that, my Lord." For the first time she broke eye contact with him, looking almost bashful. His laugh set them back on him immediately, however.

"It would have to be your first time for you to address me as 'my Lord'." He was amused. Never had someone not known his station before, it was one of the main things that led young ladies to court in the first place. At her confused look he prompted, "Do you not see my collar of office?" He gestured to the wide, intricate golden chain that rested on the shoulders of his dark blue uniform, a large pendant of blue and green stone hung at the center of his chest.

She could not hide her persisting confusion. "Yes…it is…very pretty."

He gaped at her in near indignance. "Pretty?" he barked in laughter, "It is more than pretty Lady Serenity, it marks me as the Crown Prince of the Golden Kingdom." Her lack of immediate absence didn't affront him as much as it should have.

"Does it really?" She asked in mock curiosity, "I would have thought a crown would have that honor."

Indignance melted to pure humor. "So, the Lady has some wit!" he laughed, "I am glad to hear it. I was beginning to think you a shy little rabbit." Apparently she was finding herself again and able to relax a bit around him now, because she was better able to shrug off her mild confusion as to what exactly she was being compared to.

"It is only the newness of the surroundings that has my nerves on edge, your Highness. I am not usually so skittish." Her mood was lifting considerably with the playful banter. Who would have thought a Terran, and their prince no less, could have such a pleasant demeanor?

"And here I was flattering myself and thinking it was my presence that was the cause." His voice deepened and his eyes took a different glint at her new attitude.

Her laugh was like silver-bells as she finally extracted her hand from his warm, callused grasp. "I have far too much experience with royalty to be flustered by their mere presence or pleasant charms." She turned from him and teasingly looked back over her shoulder, inviting him to follow.

Without hesitation, he did so, admiring the expanse of bare back her flowing gown allowed before he brought himself up next to her. "Pleasant charms, huh?" he preened, "And where might this experience come from, my Lady, surly not anywhere near here?" There was no way this creature had been at all close at hand and he had not noticed.

A wry smile graced her pink lips, as if she held a secret he was not privy to. "No, your Highness, I should say not."

"Then where is it you hail from?"

Her demeanor took a turn as her confidence receded, her eyes no longer holding their mirthful gleam. "I am afraid it would be rather imprudent of me to say…" She took hold of one of her pigtails and began playing with it nervously.

Now he was the one confused. Stopping his stroll, he caught her arm and led her to do the same, pulling her so they were once again face to face. She would not look at him, her agitation rising. "How could telling me where you are from be imprudent? I am your prince and I am entitled—" Trying to avoid his gaze, she unconsciously flipped her feathery bangs away from her eyes and he gasped. How could he have not seen it before? There, in the middle of her forehead, was a gleaming, golden crescent moon. There was only one thing that could mean. He let go of her arm and took a step back without thinking. "That mark… _Serenity_… Could it… You are _Princess_ Serenity? Of the Moon Kingdom?"

Serenity cringed at his revelation. She had so hoped to see Earth without causing trouble. She really should have known better. "I am." She clasped her hands in front of her and looked down at them. She waited for his call to the guard, but it never came. She looked up at him and saw only his attempt to reconcile himself to the information. There was none of the hatred she expected to see.

She was from the Moon Kingdom. She was their _Princess_. This was the girl his father had called a naïve, witless little china-doll. But she _wasn't_. He had heard her wit. He could see the intelligence in her blue eyes. She was no one's plaything. As his silence stretched he could see her growing discomfort, but when she looked up at him, he saw only resigned curiosity. And then she spoke once again.

"I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage, your Highness," she ventured, "You now know exactly who I am, but I am still relegated to only your station. Shall I not know the name of the man who has shown me there is more to Terrans then what I have been told?"

"Endymion…" he said as if he were in a dream. But he soon collected his wits about him. "My name is Endymion, Princess, and I am pleased to say that you, too, have changed my perceptions of your race in this short period of time."

Serenity gave a tentative smile. "I am glad to hear it Prince Endymion. Perhaps we could use this…acquaintance to speak more on the matter. I…I have always thought that certainly not _all_ Terrans could be as brutal as I have been lead to believe." She blushed slightly.

Endymion watched this girl who was supposed to be an enemy to his planet and people. She was genuine, he could tell that clearly. She was willing to be open-minded about the situation, so much so that she had made her way to Earth, without an escort no less! The least he could do was return the sentiment. He would allow his curiosity to tamp down the distrust that had been ingrained into him since childhood. Though, in reality he felt it nearly wasn't a choice at all. He felt drawn to her in a way he had never been drawn to another; it was hardly something he could help. "I would like that very much, I think. I will agree to keep an open mind to the subject since all you have shown me has already gone against everything I was taught to believe about you."

She gave him the most blinding smile he'd ever seen. It seemed she would speak again before she was interrupted by another's voice. "Serenity! Serenity, this isn't funny! Where are you?"

The blond gave a displeasured sigh and rolled her eyes. "It seems we will have to leave our talk for another time, your Highness. The captain of my guard has discovered me at last and it would not do for her to see me here with you. I can only pray your promise of an open mind can withstand the test of a little time…"

A woman as captain of her guard? Apparently there was much he would need to keep an open mind about… "I will do my best, Princess." Cheekily, he flicked his wrist and produced a perfect red rose. "To cement our promise." She took it in wonder and beamed when it did not close up on her. He raised her small hand to his lips and bowed formally over it, his dark eyes affirming the promise as they held her hopeful gaze. "Until next time." He straightened and reluctantly allowed her hand to slip from his own.

Her smile softened. "Until next time…" She repeated and then gathered her skirts to dash off towards the still calling voice. She stopped and met his eyes once more before disappearing around a manicured hedge.

"May we meet again soon, Princess Serenity." He returned to his daily life in a far better mood then he had come.

()()()()()()()

She found him on her balcony.

She woke feeling she was alone in her large bed, the sheets rumpled around her. It was still dark and the air was cool on her exposed skin. Hazily, she pushed herself up and looked around the room, searching. She noticed the double doors to her balcony had been thrown wide and gave a weary sigh, but decided to drag herself from the comfort of the bed nonetheless. Wrapping the thin white sheet about herself, she made her way to the open doors. She was unsurprised at what she saw.

An imposing sight, her love was posed in just his dark blue slacks, hands braced on the railing as he stared up at his home, the earthlight barely reflecting off of the tanned skin of his exposed upper half. There was no mistaking his tension. Silently, she came up behind him and wrapped one small arm around his midsection, the other remained holding up her makeshift dress. He did not start, she did not expect him too.

"I woke up and you weren't there. I got cold." She said petulantly. She knew he thought it cute when she resorted to petulance, imagining the small, amused smile that was now no doubt gracing his lips.

He took her pale hand from his waist and brought it to his mouth for a tender kiss. "Forgive me, my love. I could not sleep."

She hummed a little in acquiescence. She knew his torment despite his efforts to keep it from her. Extracting her hand from his light grasp she came to stand next to him at the railing and took up his watch. Without prompting, he traced one, solid hand up her small back and began threading his tanned fingers through her loose, silver-gold locks. It was as much comfort for him as for her. "It looks no different and yet I know the turmoil that grows there. It doesn't seem right somehow…"

He grunted in agreement. "I sometimes imagine I can see the black haze of Metallia's power surrounding it, slowly choking it…" She didn't speak. He would talk if he wanted. The silence stretched, but she was not disappointed. "I can feel it…" She turned her clear blue eyes to look at his profile as he took away his stroking touch and fisted the hand on his chest. "I am as connected to the Earth as you are to the Moon." She knew this, of course, but said nothing. "I can feel her power growing, taking over like a plague. Their hatred grows by the day and I can feel the Earth screaming in pain for it to stop. It's senseless. I just want it to _stop_…"

Serenity pressed herself against his side in comfort. She could see the torture he felt grow worse every day and wished she could take it away for him. He wrapped his strong arms around her slight form, accepting what solace he could. It pained her to think this could all have been avoided if they hadn't continued to meet, even after they knew they were falling in love. But she knew that was of no consequence. If it hadn't been for Beryl's jealousy, Metallia would have found another to possess to the same end. She could not bring herself to regret what they now had. She watched him, his dark eyes never leaving the orb she herself had been fascinated by for years. "You're going back, aren't you?" she asked quietly, resignedly.

His eyes hardened, but he said nothing at first. She pressed herself more firmly into his chest and held in the tears gathering in her eyes. She despaired at losing him, but he was their prince. If there were anyone who could make them realize the error of their decisions it was him, but she feared it was too late. With a large sigh and a tightening of his grip finally came his, "I have to." She buried her head against his chest and lost some of the control she had on her tears. The feeling of wetness on his skin finally drew his attention away from his home, and back to his love. "Hey now, it'll be alright," he soothed, "I'll come back. I'll always come back to you Serenity, no matter what."

"Y-You…" her words stuck in her throat, "You have to promise me that, Endymion. _Promise_ me."

"I promise." He whispered solemnly and pressed a kiss to her hair, his own heart aching at the possibility that he would not be able to keep that promise. He felt her shift away from him slightly and looked down at her curiously. She was sporting a watery smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"G-Good." She forced a light laugh. "Because there is a ball in three weeks' time, and I expect you to be in attendance. It would be absolutely dreadful if I was forced to go alone."

He gave a sad smile at her use of a trivial matter to lighten a mood darkened by possible interplanetary war. "You Lunarians and your parties. Does your opulence know no limits?" He chuckled, taking her lead. Her laugh was nearly a sob and she hugged him tightly again. He returned the gesture and once again kissed her crown before laying his cheek against her soft hair. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." he whispered, the sentiment holding so much more weight than his simple attendance of a party. He would live. He would come back to her…

()()()()()()()

She found him in the rose garden.

It had been a very long and trying week. Asteroids hurtling toward Earth, flower monsters trying to suck everyone's energy, Fiore trying to steal her boyfriend... Everyone was reveling in the fact that there was peace once more. Everyone, that is, except a certain reincarnated prince. Usagi had waited for him at Rei's for over two hours thinking he had simply lost track of time catching up with his studies. But as afternoon turned to evening still without word, she decided to go and look for him. She had an idea where she might find him. He seemed to retreat there whenever there was something particularly heavy sitting on his mind or heart.

She wasn't disappointed. There he was, sitting in the grass next to the rose-beds, staring without really seeing. Usagi giggled as she prepared to lighten his dark mood. As quietly as she could, the fifteen year old snuck up behind her college student boyfriend and quickly slipped her small hands over his dark blue eyes.

"Guess who!" She exclaimed brightly. To her disappointment, Mamoru didn't respond as he normally did—a studious 'hmm…' and then a stoic answer of 'Beryl?' or 'An?' or his most recent addition of 'Emerald?'—but simply took her hands in his and gently pulled her around to sit between his knees. When he put his arms around her, his grip seemed slightly tighter than usual. Usagi's confusion quickly turned to worry. "Mamo-chan?"

With a quiet sigh he flicked his wrist and produced a rose more perfect than any in the garden. She watched him look at it for a moment before his voice rumbled through his chest. "This whole thing over a damned flower." He sounded almost bitter.

Usagi put and finger to her chin and thought. "I see it more as a token of friendship that got a little out of hand." She felt him start.

"A _little_? I'd call trying to 'save' me from my own planet more than a _little_ out of hand, Usako." He was angry.

"Well it was hardly his fault…" She defended.

"If he hadn't picked that damned _flower_!" He threw the rose away, his ire rising just thinking about the stupidity of it. Why on Earth would Fiore feel compelled to look across the _universe_ for a damned flower anyway?

"We do strange things for love, Mamo-chan…" She laid a petit hand on the man's chest trying to abate his growing temper.

This made him stop. He wondered if he'd said the last part out loud. "Love?" He thought this was about friendship.

A rueful smile played on her pink lips. "You hadn't noticed?"

"Noticed what?" He blinked, bewildered.

His girlfriend giggled. "Fiore was _in love_ with you Mamo-chan."

He balked. "Certainly _not_." He was a friend that's it.

She giggled again. "Ya-huh~" She drew it out with a grin. "Don't you remember the way he _held you hand_ when he first came back? He even pushed me for getting between you two! And the way you just stared at him; I was worried I had competition for a second!" Her giggle turned to an amused laugh at Mamoru's puzzled look.

"He was just jealous because he hadn't seen me in so long…" _'Right…?'_

Usagi scoffed at his denseness. "He searched the _entire galaxy_ to find the perfect _flower_ to give you. If _that's_ not love, I don't know what is." She nodded in agreement with herself.

Some of his annoyance returned at the reminder. That damned Kisenian Blossom. She ruined so much. She nearly ruined _everything_. She used his former best friend to try and kill the love of his life. And she succeeded, though indirectly. He shivered at how empty he'd felt with her still body lying in his arms. No warmth, no breath. "I almost lost _two_ important people yesterday." The words sounded strange, he hadn't realized how long he'd let the silence hold.

China-blue eyes saddened as they looked at him a little guiltily. "I'm sorry I couldn't save him, Mamo-chan. I wanted to, really," she stressed, "I don't know why I couldn't. I suppose Casinian just had too strong of a hold on him."

He stroked her silk-soft hair. "You did save him, Usako. He came back to me when you were-He gave up some of his life energy. He helped me…" his voice grew thick, "You'd _died_, Usako… I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't…"

She placed a warm hand on his cheek and looked deep into his anguished eyes. "But I didn't." She said matter-of-factly.

"You _did_, I held you and you weren't-"

"Shhhh," she took one of his hands and placed it on her own cheek, an affirmation, "I'm here. I didn't die."

"You-" But then he understood. She knew. It had been a silent agreement between him and the scouts not to tell her that the crystal had shattered and that she'd come back from more than just unconsciousness. But, somehow, she knew that. And that made him angry. "How can you do that?" he pulled away from her, stood, and began pacing, raking his hand through his already tousled locks. "How can you just sit there and tell me you didn't die, like it's no big deal?" He knelt down and grabbed her shoulders, but she was still uncharacteristically calm. "You _died_ damn it! And it was the scariest moment of my life when I thought I would have to live without you! Do you have any idea what that's _like_?" His anger broke as soon as he saw the tears in her eyes.

"Yes." She answered simply, her calm beginning to crack. "Yes, I know _exactly_ what that's like. Have you forgotten?" her voice began to rise with her pain, "Have you forgotten that _you_ died? Have you forgotten that I had to watch you die in my arms in the name of saving _my_ life?" hysteria was beginning to take hold, there was a reason they'd never talked about this, "How do you think _I_ felt? When I had to look at you, cold on the floor, and know that I still had to save the rest of the world? I knew I had to defeat Beryl! I knew there was no other option! But Selene help me if I didn't wish I died with her!" She was breathing hard and tears streamed down her face.

He was shocked at her revelation. They both just stared at each other for a few moments. He'd been told of what happened surrounding the defeat of Beryl, but he'd never really thought too hard about it. He had come to see his Usako as this shining pillar of strength since he'd first found out they were fighting the same battle, but now he realized that he really should have been reminding himself that for the battle with Beryl she'd been a fourteen year old girl who had just lost nearly everyone who'd ever meant something to her. He realized now that he'd been given the easy way out. The pain of losing her…he'd wanted to die too.

"It was only at the last second that I changed my wish, when I could feel the scouts' power around me." She continued in a quieter voice. "I wished instead that things could be like they were before Beryl. It was my fault that all of you had died. I wasn't strong enough to protect you. I decided if I only had one more chance to be strong, I'd use it to fix what messed up. It wasn't fair that your lives had been cut short because I was a weak leader." She gave a small, self-loathing chuckle.

He'd begun shaking his head before she'd even finished, his hands moving up from her shoulders to grasp each side of her sweet face. "It wasn't your fault, Usako. It's not your fault that we love you enough to put our lives in danger to protect you. Destiny chose us to fight, not you." He kissed her forehead gently. "We fight as a team, all of us together."

Her smile was watery, but bright. She would believe him, because he would never lie to her. Snuggling into his chest, she breathed in his scent of coffee and roses made stronger due to their surroundings. "Promise me you won't die again…"

He fitted her under his chin and embraced her to him. "Only if you promise the same."

He could hear the contented smile in her voice. "I promise."

"Then I promise too." _'And I promise to do my best to keep that promise…'_

"I love you, Mamo-chan."

He smiled. "Enough to search the galaxy for a flower worthy of our love?" He teased and was rewarded with a soft giggle.

"Only if you're searching with me. I think we'd be apart for _way_ too long if I had to look all by myself."

()()()()()()()

He found her on his balcony.

It was late—well early he supposed—when he woke to an empty bed. Now, this wasn't really all that strange for him, he did live alone after all, but tonight it struck him with a bit of oddity because Usagi was staying over. Known to love her sleep, the young woman rarely got up during the night and was almost never up before 9am. In the times she stayed with him he was more likely to be woken by her constant shifting or her snuggling even deeper into his side than anything else. Over the years he'd been with her, their bond had strengthened to the point where she didn't have to be transformed for him to sense her, and the lack of any feeling of danger from her was the only thing that kept him from entering panic mode. Mamoru lay awake, listening. No sounds of refrigerator doors or water running in the bathroom met his ears. The apartment seemed entirely still. Deciding he'd waited long enough for her movements to reach him, the black haired man lifted himself from the rumpled sheets.

He scanned the empty living-room and kitchen areas looking for any clue to where his love had run off to. The only light in the small apartment was that from the moon streaming in through the glass doors to the balcony. It took a moment for his sleep addled mind to remember that he'd closed the blinds on those doors before he and Usagi had taken to bed. He turned to look out onto the balcony and was not disappointed. There, in nothing but his too-big T-shirt, was his fiancée, hands gripping the railing as she stared at the night sky. Giving a wry smile at her lack of thought to her own health, he grabbed the blue throw blanket she like to snuggle under while watching movies from the back of the couch and moved towards the partially opened doors.

Quietly, as not to startle her, he slid the door the rest of the way open and stepping out behind her. As he settled the blanket over her small shoulders, he wrapped his strong arms around her petit body, resting his lips to the top of her head. This was much easier now than it had been when they first started dating due to the growth-spert she'd finally hit around the time she'd turned eighteen. His heart warmed as she leaned back into his chest.

"I didn't mean to wake you." She said quietly, still not taking her eyes off the sky.

"You didn't," he lied, "Have you been up long?" his low voice rumbled pleasantly through her back.

She shrugged. "A little while." They fell silent. The sounds of the city were ever present, but at least they were muffled this high up. Tokyo being the second city that never sleeps, lights made stars few and hard to find. What was _not_ hard to find, however, was the large full moon handing in the blue-black expanse. Mamoru knew without question that it was this that held his love's attention. It was unusual for her to be this quiet, but he extended the same courtesy she gave him in these moments and waited for her to speak first. It was longer than he expected before she finally voiced her thoughts. "Do you think it remembers me?"

Though startled by the question, he did not have to ask what she meant. He turned his gaze to the silvery orb. "Of course." He responded without hesitation.

"How can you be sure?" He wondered at the touch of fear in her voice. Did she think he was lying?

Deliberately, Mamoru tightened his embrace and leaned his head down so his lips brushed her cheek. "Because it glows just a bit brighter whenever you stand under its light. Because you are the last princess of its throne and I can't imagine any planet forsaking that bond. Because it still lends you its power whenever Sailor Moon is needed." With each affirmation, he let his lips trail a bit lower and placed a single kiss on her warm, pale skin until he stopped at the juncture between her neck and shoulder.

One small hand finally moved from its place on the railing and reached back to caress the back of her love's neck and thread through his sleep-tousled hair. Unfortunately, it did not seem like she was entirely convinced. "I haven't needed to call on that power in so long…" Fear now mixed with the sadness in her tone.

"That doesn't mean that it won't come to you if you need to call it again." He kept his voice as low and soothing as he could. What could have brought this on?

"When." She corrected.

His brow furrowed. "What?"

"When I need to call it again, not if." The sadness was more profound and he knew they were slowly getting to the root of the problem.

"What do you mean, Usako?"

"When we went to the future, the king told us a little about what led to the formation of Crystal Tokyo. We don't know what leads to the ice-age, whether it's natural or caused by another enemy, but…I think, whatever it is…its coming." She pulled her hand away, allowing him to raise his head again, and instead rested it on the arm he held around her waist.

"How do you know?" Not that he doubted her, if she was this disconcerted about it.

"The Moon is restless." She stated simply, sadly.

And she doubted that the Moon remembered her? He mentally shook his head, but understood why she was so concerned now. "We'll try and fight it. Whether it's natural or not." It was half statement, half question.

She nodded. "We have to try. Even…even if it means Crystal Tokyo won't come to exist." Her quiet voice faltered.

"Setsuna-san told us that the future is not set in stone." He confirmed.

She pressed herself more firmly into his chest. "I'm scared Mamo-chan…" It came as a whisper.

"Whatever comes, Usako, we'll all be here to help you defeat it—"

She shook her head as she cut him off. "No, that's not it."

He sighed. Was this how she felt when she had to extract information from him bit by bit? He made a mental note to be better about that. "Then what?"

"Chibiusa."

"What about her?"

She finally turned to face him, but the anguish on her face made his heart ache. "The future isn't set in stone, Mamo-chan! I want to try and avoid the whole ice-age thing, I want to make sure as few people die as possible, but what if that means that Chibiusa is never born?" She broke eye-contact and stared at his undershirted chest. "I mean, I would love any child that we would have, but…but we've _met_ Chibiusa, we _know_ her. She's my_ daughter_, Mamo-chan! _Our _daughter! I know it's selfish, but what if by trying to change the future by saving more people…we lose her?" She peeked up at him through her windblown bangs.

Mamoru sighed and held the distraught girl close to him. He'd tried not to think about this for that very reason. He knew it was a possibility, and it ripped his heart to shreds whenever he considered it. But ironically, it was Usagi's optimism that had helped him not panic over it, just as he suspected it was the little bit of his pessimism rubbing off on the jovial blond causing her current distress. "Aren't you the one telling us all we have to have hope that everything will turn out alright?"

"Well yes, but—"

"And if we had a child and it wasn't Chibiusa, would you love it any less?"

"No, of course not, I've already said that. But—"

"I'm not saying it wouldn't hurt, Usako." He finally silenced her. "If we change the future enough that we don't have Chibiusa, we'd be heartbroken. It would be like any other loss even though she never would have technically existed. But parents lose their children sometimes, Usako. They may never fully heal, but they can still live. They can still find joy." He pushed her away from him enough so that he could cradle her face in his hands and look straight into her shining eyes. "But we don't even know if that will happen yet, so we can have all the hope we want that in a few years, when you are in fact pregnant, that it will be our little pink-haired terror growing in there." He smiled affectionately at her. "There is no use worrying about something until it happens, Usa. And _whatever_ happens…" he leaned in and gave her a soft peck on her petal-soft lips, "I will be right there with you."

She looked up at him with the utmost trust in her crystal blue depths. "Promise?"

He nodded as his smile grew so very gentle. "Together, no matter what."

Usagi sighed contentedly and snuggled into her fiancée's chest. "Together, no matter what." She whispered the affirmation and she could not hold back her smile. Everything would be fine. Whatever came, they could handle it.

And above them, the Moon winked. It would watch over them. She was a part of it, and he was a part of her. They were all interconnected. Whatever came, they would face together.

()


End file.
